Thanks for the Finzi reminder! Naxos and Northern Sinfonia do a nice job with Finzi. I also have this CD which features "Op. 11 - Romance for string orchestra in E-flat major" which might just be the most, well, romantic composition I own.
Gettin' romantic... Brahms. Violin sonatas. Augustin Dumay and Maria Joao Pires 1992 DG 435 800-2 Bought as soon as released this trio is really well played, providing many hours of enjoyment over the years.
Oh dear this wasn't my best Vivaldi purchase ... It's my own fault, I hadn't been paying enough attention to notice that all the lute concertos are played with a modern guitar - YUK! I didn't make it too far through side 1. The mandolin is more tolerable but the sound quality is another issue. The guitar and mandolin seem to be very close miked whilst the orchestra sound like they are playing in another building, with lots of compression ... Needless to say it won't be staying!
My CD (Chesky CD-6) has a somewhat different cover. Reiner conducts the Brahms 4th & Leibowitz conducts Beethoven's Egmont Overture. The Brahms was recorded 10/62 in Walthamstow Town Hall by producer Charles Gerhardt & Decca engineer Kenneth Wilkinson. It was issued by Reader's Digest in 1963 & by RCA Gold Seal in 1976.
Love those Readers Digest boxes the Leibowitz Beethoven is my go to. the Festival of Light Classical Music is amazing, dirt cheep but a real Hi-Fi extravaganza.
The first day in a while when it does not rain in the morning and listened to CD1 - Symphonies Nos 1 & 2 from the following box over my just completed 1 1/2 hour intense walk/jog ...
I'm not good with paw - in a lot of pain yesterday - so I leave vinyl for a small selection of popular titles
Well the Chesky LP covers were universally panned so it is not surprising they switched them out. Of course RCA gold series covers were just as bad and their 70s mastering lousy.
The Leibowitz Beethoven Symphonies set is surprisingly good. Readers Digest contracted with RCA in 1961 to get these recorded in as few sessions as possible. Leibowitz charges through these symphonies and pushes the Royal Philharmonic to the wall. If not the most polished, it never lacks for excitement.
No. 6 is beautiful and the final movement of 9 works so well with what has gone before from Ludwig Weber's intro you know it is right.
I don't know why, but I'm just now doing the math on the passage of time regarding this recording... and it's weird. The Amadeus Quartet was celebrating their 35th anniversary when they gave this performance (1948-1983). It has now been another 35 years--almost to the day--since that performance (Jan. 25, 1983). If you had asked me in 1983 about the year "1948,", I would have said it was a long time ago... But if you ask me today about 1983... well... it doesn't seem like that long ago!
